Research On The Yellow River Conservancy Commission Of The National Government

In ancient China,a nation supported by agriculture,water conservancy activity is very important.And the Yellow River,an important channel of China,is famous for its untamed nature,hence the taming of the Yellow River become an important task of water conservancy in Chinese history.Since modern times,the introduction of water conservancy science and technology from the West has brought new opportunity for the Yellow River management,and led to the transformation of the traditional theory,strategies and means.In this process,the Yellow River Conservancy Commission of the National Government(YRCC)played a major role,which deserved a review.In view of frequent disasters of the Yellow River,for making work effectively,YRCC was set up in 1933 by the Nanjing National Government.And this ended the traditional water conservancy system since the late Qing Dynasty which used to be managed individually by different provinces of the Lower Yellow River.YRCC roughly experienced two stages:the "start-up" stage and "expansion and adjustment"stage according to the time and the task.As a modern water conservancy institution,YRCC had an obvious structural characteristic-bureaucracy,such as the committee,and then level and section.In this way various departments had clear divisions of their own responsibilities.The combination of Commission decision system and the chairman implementation system benefited a lot to the job performance,because it can not only draw on the wisdom of the masses,but also avoid making decisions without execution.The chairman played an important role in YRCC,because he needed take responsibility for daily management and farther development of the committee.And former chairmen of YRCC also contributed to the career of the Yellow River Management in different levels.What's more,in YRCC,there were a comparatively complete work processes,and personnel and financial management system,which paved the road for its daily operation and business.YRCC was controlled by the central government in permissions,personnel and financial aspects,and was closely related with local government,and even the composing of the members and the site choosing had once been affected by local government.There was apparent administrative game between them.YRCC also had close ties with the Committee of Relief for the Yellow River Flood(CRF for short),North China River Commission(NRC)and Huai River Commission(HRC).Although YRCC had once work conflict with CRF,it cooperated with NRC and HRC smoothly and effectively.YRCC harnessed the Yellow River with the help of science and technology as means but not just by former experience;and the range covered the whole basin but not just the downstream of the river.The committee stuck to the policy of paying equal attention to the upper,middle and lower reaches,giving consideration to both Main stream and tributaries.The committee constantly explored the methods of water control of the Yellow River:with the setting up of metering,hydrological stations,the carrying out of the river terrain,hydrological measurement,the conducting of scientific researches,and the formulating all kinds of specialized and comprehensive cure plan on this basis,the committee treated important achievements.Besides,the committee contributed to model test on the Yellow River in Germany,and carried out the soil and water conservation work in the middle reaches of the Yellow River,in the hope of the realization of the permanent stability of the Yellow River.Meanwhile,YRCC also committed to the development of the Yellow River water resources by supporting Siphon warping project of the lower reaches and actively developing the irrigation work of the northwest.In order to adapt to the needs of the anti Japanese war and the development of the northwest,YRCC mapped the upstream of the Yellow River and its main tributaries,harnessed parts of the channel in particular to improve the navigation condition.The committee explored the water resources of the Yellow River and its tributaries and made some plans for the development of the water conservancy.Though failed to put into practice,these plans have laid a solid foundation for later related work.The seeking of both temporary and permanent solutions of water harnessing of the Yellow River of YRCC opened up a new trend of modern working,and pushed the work into a new stage in China.YRCC,though different from ordinary official department,is still one of the National Government's administrative institutions,and is influenced undoubtedly by the related decisions and decrees by the government.Fund shortage restricted the the development of the enterprise,and improper personnel conducted by the government also brought adverse effect to YRCC.It was incorporated into wartime system during the war,and became the tool of the government in its struggle.After the war,in HuaYuanKou taphole activity,YRCC became the one of the main part of the engineering game between Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China.With the decline and the end of the Kuomintang's ruling of the mainland,YRCC's historical mission ended soon,too.